Speaking panel for jails



Dec. 3l, 1929. B, w, BRQCKETT 1,741,917

SPEAKING PANEL FOR JAILS Filed April 30, 1928 Patented Dec. 3l, 1929 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE y :BLUEOED w. EROOKETT, OE CLEVELAND HEIGn'is, oiiiO, AssIeNOn 'ro Inn VAN DOEN IRON worms co., OE CLEVELAND, OHIO, A CORPORATION OE OHIO y SPEAKING PANEL Eon JAILs Application filed April 30,

Thisinvention relates to `speaking panels for jails and the like, .where it is desirable to permit conversations between a prisoner and his visitor through alpanel separating them, but at the same time prevent passage from one to the other of tools for escape, written communications, packages of nar cotics or like articles. Such panels are usually placed between a prisoner on one side and a visitorwho occupies a booth or compartment on the other side. l

The Object of the invention is toprovide a speaking panel in which those parts which permit the passage of sound are of very simple construction capable of manufacture and installation at low cost, which satisfactorily permit the free passage of sound but provide a practically impassable barrier forv `the passage of articles of the kind described,

and which panel is made of sheet metal bent `back and forth into sinuous form with openings for the passage of sound which are so located as to be inaccessible for the passage of articles such as described.

Further objects of the invention are in part obvious and in part will appear more in detail hereafter.

In the drawings, which represent one suit able embodiment of the invention, Fig. 1 is a front elevation; Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation on the line 22, Fig. 1; Figs. 3 and 4 are sectional plan views on the lines 3-3 and 4-4, Fig. 1, respectively; and Fig. 5 is a detail sectional view through a portion of the speaking panel unit, the section corresponding to Fig. 4 but being on a larger scale.

The drawings show a portion of the metal wall or partition plate 1 which separates the prisoner and visitor and is usually made of tool-proof steel. Said plate is shown as provided with two openings, an upper Opening'2 and a lower opening 3, one of which is provided with a glass window unit `through which opposite persons may View be provided with any number of speaking panels or lights and any number of trans- 1928. sei-iai Ne. 273,906;

parent window panels according to any desirable design or arrangement. Such a wall, for instance, may contain sixteen panels or lights, four rows horizontally and four rows vertically, of which fifteen may be provided with transparent glass, while the sixteenth may be a speaking panel, or two or more speaking panelsniay be included in the group, andthe drawings are intended merely to show the two kinds of panel units used. i y

Opposite the openings in the plate or partition 1 is located a. frame7 which is a metalA plate 4which may also be made of toolproof steel. It is provided with two open ings located Opposite to the Openings 2, 3, and being shown as plain' rectangular openings. Plates 1 and 4 are separated by suitable spacer bars, such as the bars 5 ofisquare cross section in the lower half of the plate shown and the thinner hars 6 in the upper'` half shown. "Nested with the latter bars in the upper half of the panel areU-shaped members 7 in which the edges of the transparent glass pane or light 8 are mounted.

The filler barssurroundingthe lower Open-` ing are spaced back from the edges thereofon all four sides, forming around the four edges a shallow channel or recess 9 to receive the edges of the speaking panel member 10. The latter is of simple form. It is one piece of metal, although it might be made iiisections ifdesirable, and is simply a sheet of metal (tool-proof if desired) bent back and forth into corrugated form, as shown in Fig.` 4, with a `series of parallel outer` wallportions 11 lying in parallel. planes, the several sections thereof beingseparated by narrow slots or openings 12 on both sides of the wall, and said parallel wall portions being connected by cross webs13 which are reversely inclined to each other. As a result theformed sheet presents to each side of the wall a series of parallel narrow slots each leading to a relatively deeply undercut cavity 14, the sidewalls of said cavities being formed by the cross webs 13. These cross webs are provided with the necessary openings to permit the passage of sound and such openings are conveniently made as a series of small holes,shown in Fig.

2 spaced from each other in any desirable order or arrangement. Other things being equal, a larger number of small holes is better than a smaller number of larger holes,because the small holes offer a greater barrier to the passage of narcotics through the wall by enclosing the same in a paper soda straw or like carrier, which might otherwise be threaded through a larger opening. Indeed, the smaller openings are so well concealed in the undercut cavities that their presence might not be suspected.

The holes l5 may be drilled in succession through the several cross webs 13 after the metal plate is corrugated, but preferably they are punched or otherwise formed in the sheet before it is corrugated, so that the axis of each hole is normal to the plane of the sheet. Therefore, as shown in Fig. 5, when the sheet is later corrugated and the cross webs 13 are brought into diverging or inclined relation to each other, the holes are at an angle to the general plane ofthe partition, as indicated by the dotted lines A, Fig. 5, and make the passages for the transmission of sound waves more tortuous and increase the obstacle to the passage of articles through the speaking panel. Obstruction to the passage of articles, of course, increases as the thickness of the metal increases and also as the size of the holes decreases, so long as the width of the slots l2 remains unchanged.

The panel so formed is of course sized as to its general area to more or less completely fill the recess in which it is placed, and with all parts assembled they are secured together by suitable securing means, either bolts` rivets, screws, or the like, or by a welding operation, as may be desired.

This panel offers ready passage of sound but is a practically complete barrier to'unlawful communication between a prisoner and visitor.

What I claim is:

1. A speaking panel unit for the purpose described, comprising a series of exposed wall sections arranged in staggered relationin two parallel planes and outwardly presented to opposite faces of the Wall, alternate ones thereof on opposite faces of the wall being connected by cross webs'and successive ones thereof on each face of the wall being separated by slots or openings, each pair of cross Webs diverging from opposite edges of said slots toward the opposite side of said wall,

some of said cross webs having sound transmitting openings therein.

2.1A speaking panel unit of the kind described in claim 1, some of said cross webs being provided with through openings normal to the planes of the webs.

Inftestimony whereof I hereby affix my signature.

BLUFORD W. BROCKETT. 

